Feb

5th

valentine’s pretzel hugs

Valentine’s Day might be on some of your minds, as February 14th is just around the corner. So today I’m sharing with you a little Valentine’s gift idea to share with friends. Many of you know that Pretzel Hugs are a long-time favorite for our family – and possibly some of you as well. I love making these with the kids, so I think that’s one reason they’ve become a favorite in our family. Making Pretzel Hugs means together time.

Here’s what you need!

Step One| Lay out all the pretzels on a baking pan or baking stone. We’re a stone family and this is the Pampered Chef stone you see in all these pictures. As for the pretzels, we always opt for the Snyder’s of Hanover Butter Snaps because there’s a little more real estate to work with and that tight little grid that’s built into the pretzel is helpful in holding everything together. Personal preference of course.

TIP | I don’t place the pretzels too close together because once a Hug melts on top of each one, it spreads out a bit and I don’t want them sticking together.

STEP TWO | Unwrap each individual Hug and place one Hug on each pretzel.

ANECDOTE| Interestingly, I do not personally like pretzels. Or Hugs. Or even M&M’s. But combined and popped into my mouth at the same time? I love Pretzel Hugs. True story. I’m weird.

TIP | Expect sneaky snacking to happen during the work.

STEP THREE | Place the pan in the oven, which has been preheated to 200 degrees. Set your timer for 8 minutes. That’s all it takes!

When you pull the pan out of the oven, the Hugs will still have their shape (sort of), but they are for sure softened.

STEP FOUR| Place M&M’s on top of each Pretzel Hug, slightly pressing into the melted chocolate.

TIP | Placing just a single M&M on top will be best to help the overall Pretzel Hug to maintain a nice compact form. We always like to do 3 M&M’s because it’s more fun for texture as you get that little crunch from the M&M shells I guess. But this will make the Hug spread out a little more, just so you know. You could always go in the middle and do 2 M&M’s.

STEP FIVE| Once the M&M’s are placed on top, you just set the pan aside and leave it alone to cool, which means that the Hugs will firm up a bit so these little gems are ready to serve. At room temperature, it can take a few hours to get to that point, so if you’re in a hurry, you can always speed things up with the refrigerator or if it’s cold enough outside, just set the pan outside.

If you can restrain yourself from eating all of the Pretzel Hugs yourself, I do have a quick & easy way that you could package and present the snack if you’re interested. At the bottom of this post is a link to this free PDF printable. It’s a page of darling Valentine’s labels. The circles are 2″ – which is the perfect size to pop onto the Mason jar lids. Certainly you can use them in other ways, too. It’s free. It’s yours. Have fun!

My recommendation is to print onto white cardstock (as opposed to a thin printer paper). Then cut out the circles with scissors – or if you have a 2″ circle punch, even more convenient! Then sign the bottom.

I don’t see a need to do anything fancy with the way you attach the label to the lid. I just use a rolled up piece of Scotch tape and call it good. This makes it easy for the recipient to pull off the label and re-use the jar if they want to.

For the 8 oz. Mason jars, I find that a dozen Pretzel Hugs fits nicely. Given that one batch means roughly 4 dozen Pretzel Hugs that fit on a pan (at least my pan), a single batch makes enough for 4 jars’ worth. Something to think about when doing the math on how many of these you might want to make as 8 oz. jar gifts.

Adding a bit of ribbon to the jar is optional of course, but what a sweet finishing touch, right? I find that approximately 2 feet (24″) of ribbon is a great length to tie around the jar and still be able to trim the ends. So this ribbon that I picked up at Michaels came as a spool with 4 yards, which is 12 feet, which means I can cover 6 jars with that spool of ribbon. It’s always helpful to consider the math before heading to the store (but I bet some of you already have ribbon on-hand, right?).

Surprise Coming

Many of you have expressed how much you’re loving the blog content based on my 2014 resolutions for the blog. We’re so happy to hear that! As part of that resolve, you may have noticed that recipes are once again making an appearance here once in a while. If you’re among those who love new recipes, and who love keeping track of those recipes, check back tomorrow for a very special surprise that we’ve been whipping up for you.

At Home with Becky

This post is part of a weekly blog series called At Home with Becky. Each Wednesday, I share a little something from home – routines, organization, traditions, decor, etc. Coming up … a look at some of my earlier creative work, my favorite everyday shoes, and a tour of my home office. If ever you are interested in seeing all of these posts in one place, just click on that turquoise button at the top of my blog that says At Home with Becky.

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COMMENTS

35 Responses

I’m loving the At Home with Becky series and I am hoping that tomorrow’s surprise is that all of the recipes that you had posted for the last few years will be back on your blog! I have loved all of the recipes that you have posted and I have tried quite a few of them. I actually got the pretzel hugs recipe a while back on your blog, and I have made them for the last few Christmases with the kids to rave reviews! Thanks for your inspiration Becky!

Kim – I do a square knot to get them to look that way. When tying the knot take the right end and put it over the left and under/ through the hole then left over right and under. As you’re pulling it tight just watch that the top part falls over the knot to look pretty versus going sideways. It’s the same knot I used to tie the bottom of my Girl Scout sash. If Becky doesn’t end up showing a tutorial on it – I’m sure you can find it on google or YouTube. Definitely a good knot to know.

We make these at Christmas time each year & LOVE them! :-D The peppermint hugs, which are sold at Christmas, are great to use as well. A tip for your readers: After the pan cools, I set them in my deep freezer until they are set. then I put them in plastic storage containers and keep them in the deep freezer until I need them, as they freeze really well.

How perfect! Thanks so much. The children and I are in the house, due to ice and snow, and this will be perfect with the valentine cards we just made for the neighbors. They are stuck inside as well ha! Have a great day! I too am loving the new resolutions.

Hi Becky! Thanks for sharing the jar labels! I have been making pretzel hugs since I saw the recipe on your blog years ago. I am keeping my fingers crossed that the big surprise is your recipes back up on the blog!! I am loving your new blog content, but I miss being able to look back at the archives!!! Hopefully one day they’ll be back!!

What a great craft to make with my granddaughter! Thanks for the inspiration. I am one of those that LOVE the recipes so I am glad that they are posting more frequent :-) I also love the at home with Becky!! Keep all of the wonderful posts coming!

Pretzel Hugs have been a Christmas tradition in our family since the first year you posted them!! My kids also love to make them with me. I hope all of your past recipes are coming back. There are several favorites that we love that I hadn’t printed. Andes mints cookies, cake mix cookies, etc…. Looking forward for more recipes to come, too. Thanks for all you do, Becky!!